NEWS BRIEFS

JUNE/JULY 2007

Internet Broadcast, “The Greatest Art”

On Sunday, June 10, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj spoke to the world via the internet. In his talk “The Greatest Art,” he focused on two very different kinds of art—that of this world and that of the spirit. Quoting Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj, the poet-saint of India (1921-1989), he said the art of this world can merely take us to the threshold between the physical and the astral realms. It cannot take us into the Beyond. The more attention we place in the world, the more coarse we become, but the more attention we have on God, then the more subtle our body becomes because the Power of God is total consciousness.

Return to Delhi, India

On Saturday, June 16, 2007 the spiritual Master returned to Delhi, India and was greeted with enthusiasm at Kirpal Bagh by an overflow crowd. When he arrived, the intense heat dissipated in a huge downpour, cooling the air. He told those gathered to greet him about his recent tour to Colombia and Ecuador in South America and detailed his activities since he last left India.

In his discourse on Sunday, June 17, he spoke about Father’s Day, celebrated worldwide on the third Sunday in June. He said the love and support we receive from our fathers remind us that God is our True Father who gives, gives and gives. God provides us with everything and guides us lovingly toward our goal of self-knowledge and God-realization.

Programs in Delhi, India

The month of June is school vacation in India and thousands flock to Kirpal Bagh in Delhi to see Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj and hear him speak. The atmosphere is very festive as families come in droves. In his talks, the spiritual Master constantly stresses that we should focus all of our attention on the Lord. When we do so, we become blissful. As we rise above body-consciousness through meditation on the inner Light and Sound of God, we achieve our soul’s liberation.

A Weekend of Service

From July 1 to 3, Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission in Delhi, India joined hands with the Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital for a blood drive and support program for the physically disabled in which the mission donated much needed supplies and equipment to the hospital. Two hundred volunteers came to Darshan Academy in Kirpal Bagh to donate. Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj said donating blood is a high form of selfless service no one knows who will be benefited by the gift.

For his spiritual discourse on Sunday, July 1, the spiritual Master elaborated on two verses from a ghazal (poem) by Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj. He said when we try to understand the words of Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj, the mysteries of life begin to unfold for us. He added that we should possess the virtues of forgiveness, contentment and equipoise to achieve the purpose of life. When we develop these qualities, nothing from this world can affect us.

Visit to Bowling Green, Virginia (USA)

On Thursday, July 5, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj and visited the children’s meditation camp at Sawan Kirpal Meditation Center in Bowling Green, Virginia. A young camp counselor gave a welcome speech and, using this year’s camp motto, declared, “Now that you are here, we will be ‘Spiritually driven in 2007.’”

The spiritual Master said camp gives everyone an opportunity to learn more about spirituality. He then told an inspiring story from the Native American tradition about a crow that flew from a world of darkness to a world of light, and returned bearing a ball of great light which illuminated everything. Similarly, he said, as we grow spiritually, the darkness of illusion disappears.

That evening, he invited everyone to watch a game of ‘Spiritual Jeopardy,’ which parodied the famous television game show. The next day he visited many of the classes offered at camp, beginning with the “discovery classes,” aimed at learning crafts and skills, and then moving on to the spiritual classes. In the woodworking class he spoke about his experience at college in engineering. During the first year, he said, students split their time between their academic studies and hands-on-learning in various workshops. Woodworking was one of the classes taught, he explained, and it was there he learned a very useful lesson: if we make a mistake and carve too deeply, we have to go deeper all around to fix the problem. Likewise, in life, if we are careful in the first place, we don’t have to spend time trying to fix a problem.

During the spiritual Master’s visit to the guitar class, which was held outdoors beneath a willow tree, students played Beethoven’s famous composition, “Ode to Joy.” Afterward, he visited the class in rocket building in which students had prepared a rocket equipped with spiritual messages and photos to “launch into outer space.” Later that evening he gave out camp awards and trophies for meditation, team work and various responsibilities, as well as certificates for graduating pre-campers and campers. Camp Round-Up followed where campers sang spiritual songs, performed skits and lit of a giant bonfire.

Tour in Washington DC

On Saturday, July 8, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj visit to the Virginia/DC area took him to the Marriott Crystal City Hotel in Arlington. In the afternoon he gave a talk in Hindi to a mostly Indian audience. He quoted Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj (1894-1974) who often said that spirituality cannot be bought or taught but can be caught by one who is overflowing with the love of God.

A few hours later, he returned to the hall to give a talk in English, “Meditate to Awaken Your Soul,” in which he emphasized we are not the body but are soul. We have to realize what our true nature is. God permeates all things; we just need to tune into God’s frequency, into the channel of God within us. On Sunday, July 8, he greeted over a thousand people in the hotel’s large ballroom. His talk, “Enter the Doorway to the Inner Realms,” was a powerful reminder that we are here to travel on our spiritual journey, to experience ourselves as soul and to realize God. He again quoted a verse by Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj which says:

O tell the darkness of intellect to seek the madness of love,

For this madness is a beam of Light and nothing but Light.

He said no amount of mental analysis will solve the Mystery of Life. Only through meditation—uprooting our attention from the world outside and focusing it within at the seat of the soul—will we solve this mystery. He said “Being in the Light changes us.” As we go on the spiritual journey, we are happy, peaceful and fulfilled.

For more information about Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj and his schedule, click here.